37 Small Kitchen Design Ideas That Are Big on Style

Originally named for the tight cooking quarters aboard a ship, a galley kitchen is most commonly characterized as a long, narrow space with two parallel walls. All appliances and cabinetry are aligned along the two walls, thus making the most of a small footprint.

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In a narrow kitchen, prep space has to be very strategic. Instead of forgoing an island entirely, try a long, narrow piece of furniture that runs parallel to your sink and appliance wall. What you’ll lack in width you’ll more than make up for in length.

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Anything can be a shelf if you want it to be! In this Martha’s Vineyard beach cottage kitchen, any place with a flat surface—including above and around the windows—is used for storage.

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A small kitchen also means small cabinetry. Minimize the need for door swing space—and give yourself more flexibility in storage—by covering the space below your counters with fabric instead. The space you save may also give you enough room to slide in a small island, like here.

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When every inch counts, wall space is just as valuable as counter space. Here, designer Ken Fulk wrapped the kitchen in above-the-door height open shelving and added wall-mounted storage for knives and copper cookware to keep essentials simultaneously out-of-the-way and close at hand.

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Use the exposed wall braces of a cozy cabin as an intuitive guide to where to insert shelving. That way, you’ll create more storage without interfering with the natural lines of the structure.

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Wrapping your stove hood in the same surface that covers your walls will help keep your kitchen from feeling visually cluttered.

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